?The Matchbox brand name and line of highly detailed miniature cars and trucks originated in England in 1953 and was eventually purchased by the American Mattel toy company in 1997.
Every toy store that has ever sold miniature toy cars within the past 50 years has had a relationship with the Matchbox brand of tiny toy cars and trucks. The Matchbox brand name originated in 1953 with the British die-casting company called Lesney Products that chose the name “matchbox” because the company’s original die-cast automotive toys were sold in small boxes similar to the size of the small rectangular boxes that wooden matches were commonly sold in following World War II. Back in the late 50’s the company’s first major sales success was a million-selling miniature model of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Coach. Original Lesney co-owner Jack Odell had a young daughter at the time whose school only allowed the children to bring toys that could fit inside a matchbox. This led to the creation of a series of 1/75th scale toy cars and trucks that began the mass-market success story of the Matchbox series because each model had to fit in a match-box sized container.
Those early toy cars became the first of what eventually became known as the company’s “1-75” miniature range and additional models of mostly British vehicles continued to be added throughout the following decade. Over time the Matchbox line became more international and included models of many worldwide brands of vehicles. The Matchbox designers were able to make models with very high levels of detail in the tiny 1/75th scale by taking detailed photographs of the real vehicles and using original manufacturer’s blueprints as well. The size of the tiny model cars along with their unique packaging allowed Matchbox to occupy a toy market niche that was unfilled at the time, and also made them relatively affordable and helped establish Matchbox as a household brand name after the company registered the name as a worldwide trademark to protect the brand from competitors. By 1968, Matchbox became the biggest-selling brand of small die-cast models among the biggest three British-made brands at the time of Matchbox, Dinky, and Corgi during what came to be known as the “Golden Era" of British die-cast toy cars.
By the end of the 60’s, most Matchbox models featured plastic windows, complete interiors, separate wheels and tire along with spring suspensions and parts that opened. The Matchbox line became very diverse and included trucks, buses, tractors, and motorcycles along with representations of nearly every standard passenger car. Other toy car brands attempted to compete with Matchbox, but none were very successful until the giant American toy company Mattel introduced its Hot Wheels line of cars that were marketed very aggressively along with numerous accessory products in a scenario that led to steeply declining Matchbox sales by 1970.
The Matchbox brand regained popularity through constant improvements to its line and by the mid-'70s it had regained a bigger share of the worldwide toy car market until economic factors began affecting the ability of the company to make a profit on toys manufactured in England. Lesney later went bankrupt in June 1982, and the Matchbox brand name was sold to Universal Toys that outsourced its die casting in mainland China at the time. By 1992, Universal sold the brand to Tyco Toys, whose toy division was later purchased by Mattel in 1997 in a move that united Matchbox with its longtime rival Hot Wheels. Mattel revamped the Matchbox line almost completely in 2003. The new Matchbox line was based in El Segundo, California, and marked the return to the company's roots of selling realistic looking, very-detailed models based on real prototypes. A second “1-75” series celebrating the "35th Anniversary” of Matchbox was released by Mattel in 2005. The series was limited in production, sold at premium prices, and eventually proved to once again be quite successful, especially in the American toy market. In 2008, Mattel expanded the size of the standard Matchbox series and you can still find high-quality, highly detailed Matchbox cars and trucks in toy stores across the U.S. and many other markets today.
